In various operations, including bathing children or those in need of assistance and cleaning or accessing confined spaces or basins, a user is required to position oneself external to a defined space and reach or extend into such a space to perform various functions. These operations are known to pose risks of injury or discomfort to the user, particularly in the presence of rigid or sharp objects and corners.
Various devices for increasing the comfort of a user or worker, including those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,784 to Holmes, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,273 to Schaevitz and U.S. Pat. No. 6,595,590 to Bottoms, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties, contemplate weight bearing structures. Known devices and disclosures, however, fail to provide various novel features of the present invention including, but not limited to, providing ergonomic support for a user at a plurality of non-discrete locations, the provision of an appropriately sized device, adjustability and/or flexibility to accommodate users and environments of various dimensions, and various other features as shown and described herein.
Accordingly, there has been a long felt and unmet need to provide an ergonomic support device for a user that increases user comfort and functionality.